CUSTODIAN OF FATIMA SECRET DIES

The Portuguese nun known as Sor Lucia, last survivor of the three sheperds who experienced the Marian apparitions of May 1917, died at age 97 at the Fatima Shrine.

Church sources said that Sor Lucia passed away at 17:25 GMT at Santa Teresa de Coimbra (central Portugal) where she had lived a cloistered life for many years.

Her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Martos died in odor of sanctity decades earlier and their canonization has been under way at the Vatican since November 15.

The three shepherd children were the custodians of three secrets whose contents are known today: the first involved the end of World War I (1914-1918) and the second involved the premature deaths of Francisco and Jacinta.

The final one was disclosed by the late Sor Lucía to Pope John Paul II, and according to Vatican disclosures, concerns the failed assassination attempt on the Pope's life on May 13, 1981 at St. Peter's Square.

In an interview by the Portuguese publication "Christus" in May 1998, the nun was asked about the third secret.

When asked if the secret was in any way related to the Vatican Council, she simply said: "I cannot answer."

Was the Third Secret to be found within the Apocalypse? Sor Lucía explained: "Our Lady did not say that it would appear in the Book of Revelation."

If she was unable to disclose the secret, would the Pope be authorized to do so? The nun simply answered that the Pope could reveal it if he so chose, but "I advise him not to. If he choses to disclose him, I advise him to be very cautious."

Interviewers could not resist asking if she still witnessed apparitions of Our Lady, to which she replied. "You're so nosy. I cannot say."

The Virgin also spoke of hell, a subject that was an obsession and is now noticeably absent. However, Sor Lucía's words on the subject were clear: "Hell is a fact. It's a supernatural rather than physical fire, and cannot be compared to burning flame, produced by wood or coal."

She also offered advice to priests on the subject: "Continue to preach about hell, because Our Lord spoke of hell and it appears in the Holy Scriptures. God condems no one to hell. God gave men the freedom to chose, and God respects human freedom."

When cardinals asked her if she had a closing statement, a message to be given to our confused world, she answered without hesitation: "He who is not with the Pope is not with God, and those who wish to be with God, must be with the Pope."

During the interview granted by the Portugese nun, an explicit mention of Russia, its dedication to God and its conversion could not be omitted. Sor Lucía did not conceal a curious detail.

When the Blessed Virgin asked the three shepherds to pray for this goal, she had no idea what Russia was. "We thought it she was a very bad woman."

With the passing of time, Sor Lucía would learn the dramatic story of the Russian people in all of its details. She herself has survived communism and was able to witness the disintegration of the Soviet bloc.

Could this event be interpreted as a sign of Russia's conversion? In this regard, Sor Lucía made reference to "that man in Russia who unknowingly became God's instrument for conversion."

UFOINFO would like to thank Scott Corrales and UFO UpDates for granting permission to use this article. To keep up to date with follow-up reports and discussions you are advised to subscribe to UFO UpDates by writing to Errol Bruce-Knapp at: ufoupdates@virtuallystrange.net